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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: racket · patient · race · trunk · cold · pit

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. race — a contest
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. cold — not warm
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. race — humankind
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. cold — an illness
  13. pit — in a race
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. pit — a hole
  17. race — the arms race
  18. patient — a sick person

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com